Shannon Sharpe has gone on the offensive.
Sued on Sunday for assault, sexual assault, battery, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, Sharpe has fired back. His lawyer, Lanny J. Davis, has issued a statement characterizing the civil suit as “a blatant and cynical attempt to shake down Mr. Sharpe for millions of dollars” and claiming the litigation has been “orchestrated by her attorney Tony Buzbee.”
“It is filled with lies, distortions, and misrepresentations,” Davis says of the civil complaint, “and it will not succeed.”
Davis contends that the plaintiff “secretly recorded” the “video of a consensual sexual encounter” in order to “falsely portray a consensual sexual act as non-consensual.” Davis claims the video was “heavily edited and taken entirely out of context,” and that the plaintiff has “refused to provide a copy of the full, unedited version” to Sharpe’s lawyers.
Davis adds that Sharpe “believes her secret taping was all part of her planned set-up as part of her blackmail scheme.”
Davis also says Sharpe “categorically denies all allegations of coercion or misconduct — especially the gross lie of ‘rape’ — and will not submit to what he sees as an egregious attempt at blackmail.” Sharpe, through Davis, vows “to fight these false claims vigorously in court.”
Based on Davis’s statement, the case could in many respects boil down to the jury’s interpretation of the video that was presented to Sharpe’s lawyers and the unedited version. Sharpe will be automatically entitled to the raw video on request. And both sides will then have a chance to argue what it reflects and what it means.
Davis attempts to enhance Sharpe’s position by disclosing graphic texts that the plaintiff allegedly sent to Sharpe, leading his statement with two of them. While those will help when it comes to the P.R. battle, the case will apparently and inevitably come down to what the videos show — the one that was given to Sharpe’s lawyers and the unedited, full version.
If the videos point to a non-consensual encounter, she’s far more likely to win. If the videos support the notion that the encounter was consensual, she’s far more likely to lose.
